The Drop: Week of October 22nd 2012 New Releases

On PSN this week, enter the surreal world of The Unfinished Swan and explore a mysterious, hidden kingdom. Your journey will be led by a runaway swan who guides you through strange levels filled with bizarre creatures. Discover the land through innovative new game mechanics such as splatting paint on a white surface to uncover your surroundings. Each level will bring new twists, challenges, and puzzles until you eventually come face-to-face with the eccentric King that built this realm.

On PS3 on Blu-ray and a PSN download, tackle the legendary might of the Helghast army in three blockbuster adventures in Killzone HD. Renowned for its ground-breaking cinematic visuals, powerful storylines, and dynamic multiplayer modes, get ready for the ultimate world space warfare experience, each crammed with relentless action, danger and excitement.

Street Fighter X Tekken (For PS Vita / On PSN) — Street Fighter x Tekken makes history as fighters from these two bastions of the fighting genre come together for the very first time. Utilizing the same 2D viewpoint and technology that powered Street Fighter IV, this game allows for Tekken characters such as Kazuya Mishima and Nina Williams to make the transition into the Street Fighter universe having been re-imagined using Capcom’s much-loved art style. Their looks may be different, but these characters have retained their own unique characteristics and signature moves as they go head-to-head with classic brawlers from the Street Fighter franchise in what promises to be an explosive match up.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz (For PS Vita / On PSN) — Everybody’s favorite monkeys AiAi, MeeMee and GonGon are back for more banana collecting fun in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz for PlayStation Vita. Exclusively designed for the PlayStation Vita system’s unique functions, the game continues the motion-based experience of the previous adventure whilst making full use of the dual analog sticks and front/back-touch controls.

The puzzling primates return with all-new worlds, original mini-games and updated graphics adding a fresh new vibrancy to Super Monkey Ball. Players can manage each monkey’s momentum to navigate narrow ledges, moving platforms and loads of challenging obstacles. Roll your chosen ape to the goal by taking full advantage of the capabilities offered by this innovative new handheld console and challenge up to four friends in Wi-Fi enabled multiplayer modes. Fans can also enjoy revamped classic games such as the much-loved Monkey Target, along with brand new additions.

Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (For PS Vita / On PSN) — Virtue’s Last Reward is the second adventure game in the “Zero Escape” series, in which players must make solve puzzles and make crucial decisions in order to survive a deadly game. You thought you’d defeated the Nonary Game, but now it’s back, and more deadly than ever. It’ll take cunning, skill, and more than a little luck to escape alive, but do you really have a choice?

Killzone Trilogy (Also on PSN)

The war with the Helghast is documented in never-before-seen detail with Killzone Trilogy, a compilation of the first three games in the First-Person Shooter series.

Highlighting the set is Killzone HD, a remastering of the original Killzone with a 720P HD makeover and full Trophy support. Experience the harsh realities of war in a gritty, awe-inspiring combat with 27 weapons, 11 levels, four soldiers, and one gripping storyline. Amidst the chaos, a squad of soldiers will become heroes.

Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA is bringing the fight to the enemy’s home world of Helghan in Killzone 2. Taking the role of Sev, the battle-hardened veteran of the special forces unit known as the Legion, players will embark upon a mission to the planet Helghan to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Visari, and bring the enemy’s war machine to a halt.

In Killzone 3, players once again face the hostile Helghast army, battling overwhelming odds in the fight for human survival. Players find Emperor Visari, the viscious dictator of the Helghast, dead at the feet of Sev and Rico. However this war is far from won. In the wake of Visari’s death, Helghan has devolved into a world of political scheming, rapid infighting, and murder. Now, the two most powerful men on Helghan are fighting for complete and utter dominance while Visari’s vision of Helghan is in jeopardy.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter (Also on PSN) — A First-Person Shooter featuring covert Tier 1 military operative combat. The game is a sequel to the 2010 release, Medal of Honor, which moved the long-running game series from its roots in WWII based gameplay, into modern warfare scenarios and true-to-life conflicts. The single-player campaign features mission play involving returning characters “Mother,” “Preacher,” “Voodoo” and others in operations after their service in Afghanistan. Multiplayer modes include 2-20 player support in which players have the ability to play as one of 13 real special ops units, from 10 countries.

Cabela’s Hunting Expeditions — With unprecedented freedom, you decide the destination and the journey. Cover more territory and position yourself closer to the trophies by means of vehicles. Since every move you make is ultimately monitored and graded; the power to maximize your score will come through a sharpened skill set and strategic gameplay. A challenge for hunters of all levels.

Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2013 — In an epic story written by Andrew Kreisberg of Fringe, two brothers are torn apart after the death of their father at the hands of a grizzly bear. Ten years later, the estranged brothers reunite for the hunt of their lives. One beast tore them apart. Can another beast bring them back together?

Play with the all-new Top Shot Fearmaster, which tracks your heart rate (X360 and PS3 only) to add a whole new level of reality and dynamic gameplay. Will you be able to control your fear long enough to fend off the deadly beasts?

The Unfinished Swan

An independently-produced title, Unfinished Swan is a surreal maze game set in an entirely blank world. You find yourself chasing after a swan who has wandered off into a surreal, unfinished kingdom. The game begins in a completely white space, and you can throw paint to splatter the surroundings and reveal the world around you. Discover the land through further innovative new game mechanics to uncover your surroundings. Each level will bring new twists, challenges, and puzzles until you eventually come face-to-face with the eccentric King that built this realm.

Starhawk (Single Player Campaign) — In the far reaches of space, factions of humanity battle over a rare and dangerous resource known as Rift Energy. Colonies of humans called Rifters have been exploring the “Frontier” of planets, but find their way of life threatened by the Outcast, a ruthless species of humans who have mutated into psychotic monsters due to exposure to this very same Rift Energy. Caught in the middle is Emmett Graves, a hired gunslinger ostracized from society because of his own exposure to Rift Energy, leaving him partially mutated, but still able to retain his humanity. Graves is drawn back to his home settlement to face a mysterious outlaw and his war band of Outcast warriors.

Frobisher Says! (For PS Vita) — Frobisher Says! is a a fast-moving minigame compilation featuring 50 games. This game is designed to make you use the full range of features that PS Vita has to offer — Frobisher might command you to scratch his back using the rear touch pad, face the North Pole or even smile for him.

You can experience Frobisher Says! in a single or multiplayer mode. Up to 12 players can pass one PS Vita between them as they play, join in the party and discover all that PS Vita has to offer. Wacky and surreal, Frobisher Says! includes poking otters with sticks, delivering puddings, drawing on eggs and smiling at ladies.

Orgarhythm (For PS Vita) — Orgarhythm blends music and real-time strategy elements to create a new experience specifically designed for touch-enabled play on the go. Playing as the God of Light, players will battle the forces of the God of Darkness by deploying elemental soldiers for rhythm-based attacks synced to a hypnotic mix of rock, club and tribal music. In the game, rhythm is a weapon and different attacks occur on different beats, making the game’s catchy soundtrack dynamic to user input. Orgarhythm also has twelve maps and features both versus and co-op two-player modes via online play.

The Darkness II — The Darkness II takes players down a brutal and personal path as Jackie Estacado, wielder of The Darkness — an ancient and ruthless force of chaos and destruction. Based on the supernatural horror comic book series created by Top Cow Productions, Inc., The Darkness II breaks out of the sea of conventional first-person shooters with its fervid Quad-Wielding gameplay, which will allow players to slash, grab, and throw objects and enemies with their Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons. The game is layered with the use of dark versus light, steeped in deep and twisted storytelling, and engulfed in stylistic violence that is visualized through a hand-painted graphic noir technique that stays true to its comic book origins.

Demos

Sports Champions 2 (PS Move Required)

Jeopardy!

Wheel of Fortune

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz

PlayStation 2 Classic

Winback: Covert Operations — A terrorist group calling itself the Crying Lions is about to take over the world with its mighty satellite, and Jean-Luc Cougar is the only one who can stop it. As Jean-Luc, a covert operative working for the Strategic Covert Actions Team, you are responsible for taking back a Lions-controlled base and regaining power of the satellite. Some of the weapons you’ll have to acquire and use to defeat the terrorists are handguns, shotguns, and machine guns, though you’ll also need to access such materials as explosives, detectors, flashlights, and medical kits in order to succeed. A refreshing take on the traditional action game, WINBACK requires as much stealth and strategy as it does reflexes and use of weaponry.

[Editor’s Note: The following dates are subject to change. Game details are gathered from Press Releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

We’re in the holiday launch season… it’s good to be a gamer right now. Ready to get my hands on Killzone HD. Nice to see Vita getting some love. Plan on picking up MoH on Black Friday. Already got Unfinished Swan… I like how Sony allows devs to take chances and create games like this.

Shame that this is what gaming is coming to i already know that i am not getting ps4 and i bought a ps v cuz i was hoping that there would be alot of retail games i had my heart set on it,i when u guys put boarderlands for free i downloaded it and i enjoyed it so much i bought both on the disc cuz it dont take much memory and the fact that u all of a sudden are deciding to put old retail games on psn makes me think ur trying way to hard to push towards downloads i know alot of us love are disc heck i know that thats really the only thing i have in my room lol, heck when walking dead goes on disc imma buy it cuz its the best and im goin to get journey as well :) so pls i beg u for us that love disc make it so ps4 has disc or eles i ant buying it

@69 It hasn’t been confirmed for the US yet but theyre making a KH collection, Kingdom Hearts 1.5. It has Kingdom Hearts 1, Chain of Memories and the cutscenes from 358/2 Days. I’m assuming theyre gonna make a separate collection that has Kingdom Hearts 2 in it

@67 i say good riddance!! Its time to move on. Digital is the way of the future, whether people are ready to admit it or not. Only thing holding it back from its true potential is retail, which is preventing Sony from giving us reasonable pricing on digital games.

I can’t wait till we get beyond disks so we can get proper digital gaming service.

No mention of Dark Souls Artorias of the Abyss and no comment by the PSN staff whether it is going to be delayed or whether it was a mistake on their part has me irked and worried.

Hope it is a PS+ discount, but no matter what, buying it, obviously, since it is the best video game made in the past 8-10 years.

@#80

HELL NO! Digital sucks. I want to actually own my retail games. You know, the 3DS, if your 3DS gets stolen or something like that, you LOSE the games you paid for since they are tied to the system and not an account. Buying retail games digitally is just plain stupid.

@83, Digital works great for me…..If I pay $60 for 1 copy of a ps3 game,I only get that 1 copy.If I buy that same game on my ps3, my ps3 PSN purchase gives me activation on 3 ps3 systems. And yes I do own 3 ps3’s. 1 im my home , 1 for my son and 1 in Trinidad & Tobago.
Also, My ps Vita purchases gives me 2 copies of the 1 purchased game.
And again, My pspGo purchases also gives me 2 copies of the 1 digital purchase.
Best of all are my psp/ps1 & Minis purchases, I can buy just 1 purchase and use that game on my Vita or my PspGo.
I love buying digital and best of all, I can one day unplug my ps3 from the internet and have all those downloades games saved to my personal collection. No cd shelf space required.

@80 I’m on the fence. I appreciate the convenience and minimalism of digital games but only if there is true ownership (which there’s not) & if there is an incentive to switch (i.e. discounts), which so far I have seen none or few. (Case in point, AC3, Dishonoured, etc. currently at full price PSN download).

Why pay $60 for a digital game when you can own a hard copy? Perhaps it’s more convenient, perhaps you can back it up “just in case” but do you truly own it?

Can you lend it to someone? Trade with someone (something that was a big part of my childhood and still enjoy doing with friends)? Recoup some of the cost by trading it in? (When I’m done with most games I rarely go back to them. Only a few).

These are questions that I ask when deciding to buy digital or not. So far those questions have not been sufficiently answered for me to go ALL digital. However I do own some.

If the PS4 does in fact NOT play used games somehow as rumored in order to corner the digital market, then I shall have a decision to make. I will never go to Xbox.

@83
What does 3DS or any of nintendo’s bad digital system and policies have to do with Sony and their policies? If your PSP or Vita gets stolen you can redownload the stuff you’ve bought. And you can even go online and deactivate your account from that system. What does 3DS have to do with anything?

The only problems I see with digital full games is we’re getting a bit screwed right now in not getting the in-game DLC pre-order bonuses in most cases, and if you regret your purchase (like I sort of do with DOOM3 BFG because it’s lacking some basic options which makes it feel HIGHLY unpolished and not worth $40, more like $20), there’s really nothing you can do to get some of that money back.

As long as you know what you want, and know it’s not a game you’d ever want to trade in or sell, there’s not really much negative, and alot of positives in going digital. I find it kind of ironic that you’re excited to buy DLC, but yet bemoan full digital games. There’s really no difference.

You get 3 games in DOOM3 BFG, unless you consider expansions full games, in which case you should say it has 5 games. I say it has 3. And I’m not complaining about the games. I bought DOOM 3 BFG on launch day because I wanted the games on my PS3. My problem with the game is that it’s lacking BASIC options like controller mapping (in any of the games), no turning down the music and sound FX seperately, you can’t play DOOM 1 or 2 full screen, no custom soundtracks, the multi-player just disconnects constantly. Also no cheats though that’s a minor gripe.

And I know full well the original Xbox version of the game was chopped to pieces compared to the PC version, and had FAR worse graphics. But the Xbox version had one feature that was really cool…..co-op in the campaign. Since they went through and pretty much rebuilt the whole game going as far as replacing DOOM3’s aiming mechanics with RAGE’s…which was a smart choice, I really think they could/should have put co-op in this version.

DOOM3 BFG is a good collection of games, but is lacking polish due to basic options being MIA. It’s not worth $40. More like $20 or even $30

Nice drop. I’m definitely excited about Unfinished Swan. BTW, I heard that Japan will be getting Silent Hill 4 on their ps2 classics. I’m not complaining since it means we’ll eventually get SH4 too (just might take awhile…). But I was wondering if Sony will consider putting Silent Hill 2 and 3 on ps2 classics (HD collection doesn’t count). Pleeeease!

Rey with the copy & paste job on this each week. Need someone to proof-read these before you submit! Descriptions from last week on this week’s releases… Everyone is better off listening to the PlayStation Blogcast for the best update on (what dare I say) “Farm Fresh” releases are coming to the store.

somewhat of an ok week next to killzone thats all i can see thats worth buying , i dont have a ps vita so i can say much about the games but there is one thing i dont get , why is it ps brings out ps2 games that no one really cares about and with that why is it useally one or 2 games for a ps2 and im wondering is the day one releases out at midnight or not